In 1897, Edmund A. Allen, with his son, Amos Allen Sr., opened an office wholesale lumber company at 228 N. LaSalle in Chicago. The company was originally established “to own, cut, manufacture, buy, sell, trade, exchange, and deal in timber, logs, lumber and other building materials.”
In 1946, the company acquired some land about 50 miles south of Chicago in Momence, Illinois. There, they could unload rail cars and store lumber for future shipments (Allen Lumber in Momence was actually referred to as Al-Mo Lumber). Allen Lumber installed its first staining machine in Momence in 1961. Primarily staining cedar sidings and mouldings, it was one of the first pre-finishers in the country. In 1972, Amos Allen Jr. moved the entire operation to Momence. It was then that Amos saw a market niche and decided to specialize in Western Red Cedar. That decision proved to be very successful, as Edmund Allen Lumber has grown to one of the largest cedar wholesale distributors in the country.
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